New Life
by The Exploding Cigar
Summary: Wherever you are, life and love will find you. Even when you've lost your way or yourself, life will continue living and love will keep loving all around you. You only have to get swept away in them. ZukoxOC Please review
1. Chapter 1

I don't know when it started, but I do know how it happened. I don't know when it started. I don't know how I let it happen.

How did I become someone who fought with himself not to quit every day?

That was it. Every single day I just wanted to lie down and give up. I wanted to just end it all. I had already lost almost everything. My home was long since gone, my honor was a distant memory, my mother…my father. Even my ship and crew were taken now. I only had my uncle and we were already at a loss.

We'd managed to get an ostrichhorse, but it didn't help much. Travelling faster didn't mean Uncle Iroh couldn't manage to find ways to cause us problems. He insisted that we needed to stay on the shore line, which was alright with me except that he thought we should stay right on the shore. He thought we should even sleep on the beach. I respect my uncle, he's wise and all, but sometimes I worry about him. It doesn't always seem like he knows what he's doing. I was really starting to get worried that my old Uncle Iroh was beginning to go senile. That would just be great, wouldn't it?

"Zuko, you haven't seen my other sandal, have you?" Uncle Iroh called over his shoulder. He was on his knees in the sand digging through the saddle bags. It looked like he would fall into one of the sacks any second.  
I sighed. "Why would I have seen your sandal, Uncle? For that matter how did you lose it? Weren't you just wearing it?" I was pretty sure he was only trying to find a way to keep us from leaving for a while longer. He just wanted to rest.

Sometimes I wondered if he really grasped the idea that we were fugitives on the run now. Lazy old man…

"Urngh…please, Zuko, humor an old man my body is worn and frail; I need to have my sandals or I might twist my ankle or break my toe." He stared up at me with a childish pout.  
I groaned and tore at my hair. "Fine." He was going to drive me insane one day.

I searched around our camp and up and down the beach and even into the patchy forest. The old man's sandal wasn't anywhere I could think of. I was sure I would've found it if I came near enough. My uncle's feet had a…distinct odor.

My walk back to the little camp was more meandering. There was no hurry and I didn't really feel like trying to convince my uncle to 'find' his shoe so we could move on. I just wanted to walk. By the time I got back, the sun was setting. My uncle had a fire going but I didn't see him anywhere. I called out for him a couple of times, but figured he might just be going to the bathroom or something. I would let him do his business.

Out of nowhere, he came running down the beach yelling my name. He was red-faced and huffing like he had just run five miles. I tried to make him sit only to get waved off. Stubborn old man wouldn't take my help.

"We need to go. I realized while you were gone that there is a storm coming in. This is going to be bad!" He yelled at me.  
The last time he told me a bad storm was coming I didn't believe him and it turned out to be a typhoon. "Alright, let's get everything together and head to high ground." As I spoke I bent to gather my bedding  
"Quickly," My uncle said and threw himself into the sand at the foot of his own bedding. "There isn't much time. It is coming in from the west and the tide is already rising."

The two of us thrashed around that way, stuffing things into bags and bags into sacks and strapping sacks onto backs, as hurriedly as we could without hurting ourselves. The tide swept up an ever-present threat to wash away everything we still had after all of our grief. The rain fell sudden and hard, pelting the back of my neck and my shoulders like a thousand lashes of a tiny whip.

Thunder was roaring and lightening was streaming across the black blanket of sky. The clouds were so dark and numerous that there was no definition, no detail of the overhead torrent. It was like natures battlefield and, as all horrors seemed to, it had hunted us down.

The water had gained headway and now a harsh sloshing tide was lapping back and forth at my knees. How had it gotten that high without me seeing? Why did these things always happen?

I looked to my uncle. The old man belonged here; he belonged on nature's malignant war zone. I saw, then, the great Dragon of the West; the fearsome general my uncle had once been. As he dug his feet down into the muck of sand to hold his ground and steady our ostrichhorse. He was gone in a moment. A wave crashed down on us and I hit the ground underneath its strength before it pulled me into suspension.

Some part of heard my uncle calling to me. Some distant part of me heard his voice like a garbled, long-forgotten memory. The rest of me was stretched to toss and fight in the frigid, hurling sea.

There wasn't any time left. There was no time left to get our things. There was no time left to get to higher ground.  
Then there wasn't any time, at all.  
Everything was stopped…and then it was all gone.


	2. Chapter 2

Do you know that feeling of when you let your hand fall asleep? That tingling numbness. I felt that all over. You can not imagine how strange it was to wake up with your entire body – head to toe, skin to bone – tingling like ticklish stinging.

I groaned, rolling and rubbing my arm. It was as cold as I were lying on a sheet of ice. It was dark and my eyes were heavy and hazy, but I knew that something was wrong. I was lying on rough, cold cement. There were boxes and trashes and boxes filled with trash all around me. It was disgusting. When I looked up there was a wall, black in the night I turned and there was another wall and then a third connecting them. I found a big metal door with some sort of weird dim light above it, but it was locked.

The light was enough to see by for the most part. Somehow, my clothes were different. I hadn't changed…I should've been wearing the same plain Earth Kingdom peasant clothes I was washed away in, but I had never seen clothes like these before.

It was obvious I was in an alleyway. I didn't know how, but that's what this was. I wandered down the only way that wasn't block off and found an open street. A feather could've knocked me over. Flying past in either direction in the street were the most bizarre machines I had ever seen. They were sleek; like nothing I knew of Fire Nation machinery. They were colorful, while the Fire Nation army never cared much to decorate their machines.

I didn't understand the vehicles of this place.

Or the people.

They all wore weird clothes like mine, but there was no…uniformity. I had traveled to every nation and there was always some sort of uniformity to the peasant's clothes. Colors, pattern's, cuts. None of these people really matched.

This whole place was strange. Vehicles. Clothes. People. Lights. Buildings. Even the sky seemed strange! I couldn't see a single star above me.

I started walking. I was just following the other people on the street; I had no idea where I was going. Some of them were talking loud enough for me to hear. I was hoping someone would drop a hint to tell me at least what nation I was in.

A man holding his hand to his ear: some complaint about his job.

A woman digging through her bag, talking to herself: making fun of someone named Karen.

A couple walking arm-in-arm: she thought he had been rude to her dad.

Apparently, this wasn't going to get me anywhere. All of these people were just worrying about their own lives. None of them were spending their time walking around in the middle of the night, talking about their nation.

…at least that told me this wasn't the Fire Nation.

I found a tea shop and considered for a moment going in. I would never admit it if my uncle asked, but I could really go for some tea. How would I buy anything, though? I didn't have any money, at least not as far as I knew.

I found another alleyway and slipped into the unlit path. I needed to make sure no one would see me. I was pretty sure this wasn't the Fire Nation, but I still couldn't let anyone see me; it was cold and my clothes were damp. I needed my breath of fire.

The alley was like a maze cut between the buildings. It was easy to get lost deep inside it and be sure that no one would see. I pulled in a heavy breath, held it deep and blew out in puffs engulfed in flames. I felt my chest warming and my muscles eased as the warmth spread throughout. I felt a little better – a little more relaxed – with this new warmth in me. I sat back against a wall and leaned me head onto my knees. What was going on? Where was my uncle? Where was I? How had I gotten here? What happened in that storm?

I started wondering if I had died, but that didn't make sense. Why would I go to some random city with weird people who drove vehicles that were even weirder and lit their buildings with something that couldn't have possibly been Earthly?

I leaned back again so my head hit against the wall, pulling my head back to stare up into the empty black sky. There was nothing here I wanted. I hated this place. In that moment I hated this place more than I had ever hated anything. Did I really think I had died in that storm? Did I really think that after everything in my life, this horrible place was where I'd end up? My fingers skimmed across the scar I carried: my branding; marking me forever as the banished prince, the unwanted son.

This was definitely real.  
This was definitely my life…whether I wanted it to be or not.

I felt like crying. Why? Why did these things always happen to me? Why did these things always happen? Always to me. If there was anything that could go wrong in my life it did. Why? Why couldn't I ever have even just one bit of happiness? Why?

My breath hitched when I felt cold drops like ice on my cheeks and thought, for just half a second, that I had broken. But it was rain. The ugly black sky of this horrible place was mocking me. It was laughing at me. I wanted so badly for it to be a solid thing; for the sky to be someone I could yell at, scream at, let all of my anger out on. I wanted it to come down and face me. As ridiculous as that sounded I wanted to destroy the very sky itself.

I stood and stalked out down one of the alley-maze's paths. There wasn't anything else for me to do. I needed to find something to tell me where I was. There had to something familiar somewhere in this terrible place.

There had to be.

But there wasn't.

After hours of walking, I was ready to give up. I'd haunted this city's streets in every direction. I'd peered into so many windows that the glare of glass was beginning to make me nauseous. I stopped at a street corner. There weren't many people out anymore. It probably wasn't much longer until dawn. I was actually pretty shocked as many people were out and around as there were. I wondered if there was ever a time in this place that someone could be alone.

"Hi."


	3. Chapter 3

"Hi." She said.

I glanced over and saw what was probably the strangest person I had seen yet. She had yellow and purple hair! It was ridiculous, wasn't it? People didn't have hair with such strange colors. She was insane.

"Do you need help?" she asked with a weird sort of goading smile. She was stuffing all of that risible hair into a hat.  
"No."  
For some reason, she thought my reply was funny and started laughing like mad. "Oh, really?"  
"Yeah, really. I'm fine." I barked.  
That smile twisted up some more into an ear to ear grin. "Then why have you walked past my window so many times in the past couple of hours?"

She had seen me. She'd been watching me stalk around the streets like a creep? Who was this girl? Why was she talking to me? Why would she have any interest in talking to a guy sulking in the city so late at night? Who on earth would put themselves at risk like that?

When I didn't reply she shrugged. "Why don't you come with me; let's get something to eat." Then she started walking off down the street.

What?

She stopped a ways away and spun back to me. She wasn't grinning now, but instead her brows were knitted together and her lips were pouted and screwed up tight like she had eaten something sour. "C'mon, Mr. Mysterious." She chirped.

Did I really have that much of a choice? At least I might get some answers from her.

I followed after her with some distance kept between us. I kept staring at that freakish purple and gold hair. It was like seeing a hyenaphant doing back flips. She was as bizarre as one of the exotic animals in zoos and circuses.

She never bothered to look back or check if I was still following. I never bothered to ask where she was taking me. I kept telling myself I would ask her all the question I could muster as soon as we stopped somewhere so he couldn't get away.

The way I saw it, this girl was probably the only person in their right mind who would walk up to a perfect stranger and want to hang out with them. She was likely my best hope, maybe even my only hope, to get the answers I needed to get back to my uncle.

She stuck her arm straight out all of a sudden and hooked her wrist on a metal pole. She swung herself onto a stoop and tapped up to the door, barely even pausing to jumble with the lock.

I felt a little awkward; just following some girl I had just met – I didn't even know her name – into a nondescript building in this strange world.

"I'm locking the door in ten seconds whether you're in here or not!" She shouted from inside.

I stuffed my fists into my coat pockets and trudged up the steps. She had her arms up with her hands twisted back and hooked on the door. It was weird to see someone who had to be around my age swinging on a door like a child. She was completely serious, too. How could she keep a straight face while doing something so humiliating in front of a total stranger?

What on Earth was I doing following this crazy girl around like this?

She led me up a short flight of stairs and opened another door. I had never seen another building as strange as that girl's home. The layout made no sense and the second floor seemed to be only a loft of a hallway and what looked like bedrooms. There was a pyramid of glass on the roof and bizarre circles cut out of a wall dividing what looked like the dining room and the sitting area. There were colors and patterns and designs everywhere. It felt like I was going mad, but…well it was kind of beautiful.

"I'll be right back, so just make yourself at home for the moment. The couch is really comfy, and the recliner is nice, but don't sit in that wooden chair, 'kay?" she grinned and moved to half-dance up the stairs and disappear into one of the doors.

I wasn't about to get comfortable. This wasn't my house and I didn't know this girl. This was just a place I thought I might find answers to some of my questions. I didn't expect this crazy girl to be an expert on anything, but she lived in this messed up place; she had to know something about it.

She came back a couple of minutes later. She had changed her clothes and the purple was gone from her hair. How did that happen? She was carrying a bundle under each arm. When she finally looked at me, she pouted her lips and wrinkled her nose like she was upset about something.

What?

"Here, I figure a warm shower would be pretty nice. You look like you're soaked to the bone, so get warmed up, here's some dry clothes, I'll wash yours when you're done." She said.  
I realized then that I was dripping on her floors. My clothes were soaked and sticking to me. Even my hair felt heavy with the rain. I was standing in a puddle. I lowered my head to her, "Thank you for your kindness."  
"Don't thank me just yet." She laughed. "When you're all washed up we can talk some if you'd like. Or not, either way."

I nodded to her, took the bundles she offered me and followed her instructions up the stairs to the bathroom. I felt so awkward – so out of place. She had given me a towel, some pants and a shirt. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do with the clothes I had been wearing so I stacked them on the counter. She was right. A warm shower felt amazing.

I shut my eyes and let the water wash away all of my weariness, all of my fear and worries. Just for a little while, I felt at ease. Just for a little while.


	4. Chapter 4

I felt so embarrassed. When I got out of the shower, my clothes were gone. I mean they weren't my clothes…or they were, but they weren't really mine…they were gone. She had taken them while I was showering.

I started getting flustered and paranoid; had she seen me naked? That stupid girl! Why couldn't she just wait until I finished? Why did something so awkward have to happen? I dried off and dressed in the clean clothes she had given me. I had to admit they were comfortable. Might as well hurry and get things over with.

She wasn't in the sitting room, so I wandered down the steps as quietly as I could. I wanted to avoid this girl as much as possible and I had to talk to her. Everything was such a battle.

I found her flitting around like a bird in the kitchen. She didn't seem to notice me. She had a big metal mixing bowl on one arm and a weird wiry thing in her other hand. Her hair was up, but falling out and she looked a little like she was on some sort of mission.

Like Azula when she's having a bad day…well, a worse day than usual.

I cleared my throat as I made a move to sit down in an – as stupid as this might sound – unnervingly high chair. She held up her finger at me and I froze. "Don't sit just yet! We're gonna head to the living room in as soon as I'm done here."  
Now she had her back to me and was fiddling with some type of bag o' goo and a plate. I had to admit, it made me a little nervous not having a clue what was going on.

Her time wasting did give me a chance to think things through again, though. Was this really alright? I didn't know anything about this girl, and even if she was my only shot at figuring this place out, was it really okay to risk my identity on her?

And then something occurred to me that should have come long before; did she already know who I was? That would make sense. Everything about this freakish girl would make so much more sense if she was doing all this because she recognized me.

That would change everything.

"So, I guess the first thing is introductions." She smiled and spun to face me. She had a plate of some strange type of food on it. "Name's Jaya Kincade, what about you?"  
The smell of whatever it was she had made was intoxicating. "I'm Lee."

She walked past me and gestured for me to follow and I obliged. I kept my distance, nervous that she was going to turn out to be a threat. When she directed me to sit on the couch I obeyed and then she handed me the delicious smelling treat and a fork.

"Lee." She repeated. "Funny – I had a friend in school whose grandpa's name was Lee. He looked like a lee; an old soldier, you know. You, though, you don't look like a Lee to me."

My throat went a little dry.

"Guess parents don't always get it right." She sneered.  
"Yeah, I guess so." I groaned.  
"Well, Lee, is it alright if I ask a little about you? You can ask whatever you want of me too, of course." She said.  
I tried not to look like a total pig, but I was stuffing my face with whatever it was she had given me. "Alright."  
"Obvious starter question: what were you doing wandering around in the middle of the night?"  
"I'm a little lost. What city is this?"  
Her eyebrow arched. "Okay…yeah, Lee, usually when someone doesn't even know what city they're in, we call it a little more than 'a little lost'. This is Elizabethtown."  
"Where?"  
"Elizabethtown. You know; Kentucky? Like the Orlando Bloom movie."

I might've been giving her a weird look then because she sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. I watched her walk to a little cabinet and dig out a dusty book. She brought it back and opened it up in front of me.

"Look, this is Kentucky." She flipped a couple of pages. "Here is Fort Knox, and travel a little down the way and here we are. Elizabethtown."  
"I've never heard of any of this. Where's the ocean? Where's the desert?" I asked incredulously. How lost was I?  
"Desert? Ocean? Well…uhm… the closest desert is probably in Texas, but which ocean are you talking about?"  
"What do you mean which ocean?"  
"Atlantic or Pacific?"  
"What are you talking about? I've never heard of a place called Elizabethtown or anything called Texas. I don't know anything about a Pacific Ocean or an Atlantic one, either, and there aren't a bunch of deserts in the world. There are only a couple and of course I meant the largest!"

I wanted to scream and yell and for a moment I think I did, but I couldn't let all of my frustration out. I still needed answers.

"Uhm…"

She was staring hard at her book, her eyebrow arched again as if she was just noticing a problem. She thumbed the corner of her page and then turned to me. "Okay, so then where are you from?" She asked in a voice that should have belonged to a normal conversation between two well-acquainted people, not us.

"Wha-uh I-I'm from Ba Sing Se."  
She smiled. "Huh, never heard of it."

She could've just slapped me across the face.

She had never heard of Ba Sing Se? She didn't know anything about the impenetrable city, the capital of the Earth Kingdom? What kind of idiot was that out of the loop? She must've been living under a rock all her life to be so ignorant.

"What nation is this?" I demanded.  
"Ohhh boy, you really are lost. This is the U.S. Did someone drug you and dump you here or something?"  
"What's the U.S.?"  
She stared at me with eyes so wide they could've popped from her head. "You can't be serious."  
I glared. Was she mocking me? "I am serious. What is it? Last I knew I was on the beach in the Earth Kingdom now you're telling me I'm in the U.S. I've don't have a clue what the U.S. is, so what is it and how did I get here?"

She was quiet for a moment. She just sat staring at nothing with that same straight face look she wore at the door; brows knitted and lips pouted. It gave me a moment to cool my head.

Out of nowhere she jumped up and darted back up the stairs.

"I want you to show me where you're from on this globe." She called as she came flying back to me with a globe tucked under her arm.  
"Fine. Then will you stop throwing all these made up places at me?"  
"Absolutely." She crossed her heart with her finger and handed me the globe.

I rolled it around in my hands for a minute or two. Every second seemed to bring more and more dread to the weight in the pit of my stomach.

It wasn't there.  
Nothing.  
I didn't recognize anything on this little world.


	5. Chapter 5

The way she was staring at me was driving me insane. It was like she was waiting for something – just sitting there on her couch watching my every trifle over the rim of a tea cup. What was she thinking? Why was she watching me like that?

Of course she'd watch me like a hawk! I was a stranger in her house who had just told her that I wasn't from her world. Why wouldn't she look at me like she expected my head to implode at any moment?

She sighed and finally set her cup down. "If you keep pacing like that, you'll run a rut into my floorboards."  
"Don't tell me what to do!" I barked. "You don't seem to get it; I'm from another world."  
"Yeah, that's what you just said." She rolled her eyes. How dare she roll her eyes at me. This was serious and she was passing it off like it was just another day to day proceeding. I felt my face growing hotter with the second.

She smiled then and pat the cushion next to her. I wasn't about to follow her again. That seemed to annoy her a little because she offset her jaw and snorted like komodo rhino.

"Look, you're making a pretty big claim here, Lee." She said. "What you're saying would be taken as insanity right off the bat by most folks, so for future reference you might want to keep your trap shut and not go spreading the news."  
"And, what, you think I'm crazy, too?"  
She shrugged. "Dunno yet. You might be crazy – that would explain why an otherwise ordinary seeming sixteen year old boy is wandering around at ungodly hours when he doesn't even know what city he's in. You might be telling the truth too, though. After all, you seemed really sincere when you said you didn't know what I was talking about earlier. But at the same time there is physical evidence only for one side."  
"What do you mean?"  
"Well, your ID." She said and held up a little rectangular thing. "The fact that you have one kind of makes it look like you belong here. The fact that you lied about your name makes you look a little deceitful. "  
"What's a license?"

She laughed and held the rectangle out to me. "Come take a look, Zuko."

I snatched the thing away from her so fast I almost tripped over the little table in front of the couch. How? How did she know who I was? Then I saw it. The little thing had my picture on it. It was strange, though. There was color to it and so much detail it was scary. I had never seen such a realistic drawing before. My name was there, too. Well, sort of…It read _Zuko Meng Jin_. I didn't know where the last name came from, but it wasn't mine. This wasn't me. Who? Who was Zuko Meng Jin? Where was I and what was all of this?

"So?"

I looked over to her and she was sitting there twirling a finger through a lock of hair watching me unconcernedly. I know we didn't know each other, but she could at least show a little consideration. This was my life and, as always, it was tearing me down.

"'So' what?" I growled  
"You're supposed to try to make your case now. You know, tell me your not crazy, explain why having a license doesn't mean anything, give me some sort of proof, or something." She smirked, toying with me.  
I felt like tearing my hair out. "I-I…"

I couldn't think of anything to say. Suddenly I was so absolutely exhausted; I couldn't even bring myself to make a sentence. Simple words seemed to swarm and scramble like a livid hive of buzzard-wasps. I groaned and fell back into a chair.

I ran my hand through my hair and leaned my elbows down to my knees. What was happening to me?

Why?

"Give me a history lesson at least…" She murmured in a strangely soothing tone. "C'mon, Zuko, I need something to prove you're telling the truth."

It hit me, then; the obvious. It was obvious. I was stupid not to have thought of it before. I should've thought realized how simply I could explain sooner. It was risky, but it was the best option.

I'd firebend. She would see, then.

"I'll show you."  
"Show me what?"  
I looked up at her. I was a little surprised to see how intensely she was gawking at me. "Can the people here do this?" I swayed my hand and sparked a small, controlled flame in my palm.

The way her eyes popped was like nothing else. Her mouth fell open and she just gaped at the little fire as though it were the most amazing thing she had ever seen.

"How are you doing that?"

I stood and punched and kicked at the air, sending balls of flame shooting forward. The more fire I made the more I wanted to show her. I wanted to prove myself. I was proving myself. It was for me, too. When I was finally ready to stand still, I was panting. It wasn't because of the energy I'd spent, but because I just needed to have some sound to focus on and calm myself down.

"Zuko… that was incredible."  
I was wordless again.  
"That…was definitely proof enough for me. That's normal for people from your world."  
"…yeah."

I just wanted to sleep. I wanted to close my eyes and be back when I opened them again.

"Alright." She said and nodded to herself. "I'll help you. I-I'll do what I can to help you figure out what's going on. We can try to find some way to get you home…but not tonight." She stood and gulped down the remaining contents of her teacup. "Tonight let's get some sleep. You can stay with me for now, we'll work out details later on. I'll bring you to your room."

She didn't give me a chance to reply or complain at all. She headed up the stairs and I only hesitated a moment before I followed after her. I couldn't rightfully turn down an offer for a warm bed and a place to stay when there wasn't anything else for me in this place.

"Thank you."  
"Don't thank me just yet, Kiddo."


	6. Chapter 6

In my mind, it sounded like some bizarre battle cry. In reality, it almost was.

"Wake up!" She practically screamed.

My eyes shot open and the next thing I knew I was being beaten. With a yelp I wrapped my arms around the pillow she'd hit me with and gawked up at her.

She busted up with side-splitting laughter and fell to her knees. I leaned over the bed and watched her. She was laughing so hard she couldn't even make a sound, then she started panting "S-sorry, sorry."

I grunted and swung my legs off of the bed. "Why'd you hit me?" I barked.

Out of nowhere she looked back up at me and was completely composed. "I thought you'd be less confused if I woke you quickly."

I blinked lamely. She hit me so I wouldn't be confused? It was a stupid idea. Absolutely stupid. Somehow, it still made sense.

"That doesn't make any sense." I huffed and tossed the pillow to the floor.  
"'Kay, anyways it's time to get ready for the day. Don't waste the light; today's going to be busy." She shrugged and dropped a new stack of clothes on my lap before sauntering out of the room like it was no one's business. It was just my luck to wind up with a crazy person as my only hope.

I changed and found my way back down to the living room where the girl was sitting waiting for me. She had her nose in a book and didn't even seem to notice my entry.

"You should eat quickly, before your food gets cold." She hummed over the rim of a weird looking blue cup and her little book.

Again she had made me a plate of food that was entirely alien, but smelled absolutely sapid. I felt uncomfortable relying on her kindness, not knowing exactly what to make of it, but I couldn't help but dig in. Her cooking was likely the best I'd ever had and my uncle and I hadn't eaten well in a while – I couldn't help myself!

"Why are you doing all of this for me?" I asked once my mouth was clear.  
She held a finger to her lips and shushed me. "Eat. Don't say a word to me until 10:30. This is my me-time, alright?"  
I nodded.

Why did she wake me up if she was just going to tell me to sit aside quietly?

I ate my meal and watched her burrowing her eyes into the pages of that book. I wonder what it was that was so interesting. With a crazy girl like her, it could be just about anything. I was still in shock that she was allowing me to stay in her house with her, that she was putting up so much effort on my behalf and I hadn't even known her for a day. I didn't understand anything in this aberrant place. It wasn't like she was the type you'd expect to be so kind.

I just wanted to have a little bit of normalcy.  
But…that never really was what life wanted for me.  
"Why so serious?" she purred in a low grumble.

Somehow she had gotten behind me without my noticing. She wasn't smiling this time. She looked almost like she was exhausted, eyes hooded and face drawn. It wasn't my place to ask and I wasn't about to.

"Why wouldn't I be? This is a big deal to me." I growled. I was starting to question if I was always this on edge or if she was driving me crazy.  
"Of course it is, but to be serious all the time is a horrible way to live life, don't you think?"

I didn't answer her. I couldn't.

An hour or so later, she was pulling on shoes and a sweater. When she saw that I was watching her, she smirked. She had put make up on and didn't look so tired anymore. She grabbed for something in a tall basket and threw a blue bag at me. The shoes I had been wearing were inside.

"I don't endorse sitting around and moping." She told me with her hands on her hips. "Get those on your feet and then grab your coat; we'll be out late and it'll be cold."  
"Where are we going?"  
"What does it matter if I tell you or not? You wouldn't know what I was talking about anyway, now would you?" she giggled.

I felt my face grow hotter and hotter. She could at least show courtesy. This place was going to kill me and yet she didn't even seem to care the slightest. It shouldn't of surprised me, but she was trying to help me wasn't she?

She led me out a door in the back of the house and I expected to walk out onto the street, but it only led to another room, an office. She grabbed an apron off a hook and pulled her hair up into a fuzzy bun. Before sparing me even a glance.

"I want you to go out and find a place to sit. I have to open up shop and then I'll come get you."

I obeyed her and exited the office. I ended up in a wide room with chairs upside down on tables spread out all over the place. One wall was taken over by a short stage and the opposing wall was overcome by an open bar with tall stools lining its length. Hanging lights with bizarre shade fell from high beams on the ceiling. Colors and designs adorned everything.

This place was so much like her house it was scary.

Why couldn't she just be normal? That's stupid. Of course she isn't going to be normal, Zuko, she's involved with you isn't she? Stupid.


End file.
